Merry Frickin' Christmas
by ChloeRhiannonX
Summary: It's the first Christmas Courtney isn't spending with her parents. But Duncan has invited her to be with his family for the holiday season. Things can only go up form here, right? Or maybe not...


**Warning for language...And implied 'grown-up games' **

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><p><strong>Merry Frickin' Christmas<strong>

_**Schools out, Christmas break  
>Home for the holiday's meatloaf and fruitcake<strong>_

If there was one day a year Duncan loved the most, it was the last day before summer vacation. But, since that wasn't for another six months, he could settle for Christmas vacation instead. Three weeks with no school was a blessing for him. Only problem? Family time.

"You know, Christmas with your family isn't a bad thing." The Hispanic teenager walked down the street, bundled up in layers to keep herself form the butter air. Duncan rolled his eyes in response to his girlfriend. She was always trying to find a positive thing to turn Duncan's mind away from the negativity of it all.

"Easy for you to say, you're not spending Christmas with your family." Courtney shrugged her shoulders, showing that it didn't bother her. But it did. The thought of being hundreds of miles from her parents at such an important time of the year hurt her deep inside. It was the first year that her parents had booked the usual Christmas vacation away without her. At the age of eighteen, they believed Courtney could take care of herself for once. And she could. But it still would have been nice if her parents had given a thought about her at all during the season.

Silence overwhelmed them, Courtney deep in thought about her family and Duncan thinking up how to catch the measles before the arid trip across the country to his family.

"But Christmas with your family sounds just as good." The brunette assured her boyfriend, smiling smugly at him as she wiped her boots on the welcome mat. Duncan rolled his eyes once again, knowing that Courtney had no idea what she had signed herself up for during this holiday season.

The kitchen smelled good, the whole house had a sweet aroma that Courtney had never found in her own house. It made the place feel like a real home, not just for show like hers was. At home Courtney's parents were often the hosts of many parties. During this time of year, it was Christmas parties. Everything was polished, everything was dusted. Special crews were flown in to decorate the house and a tree that reached the ceiling was put up in the middle of the foyer. Not that Courtney bragged, but her parents were rich. She lived in a white mansion that could easily have been mistaken for the white house. The posh part of Muskoka was where she lived, where every neighbour tried to outdo the other in 'friendly' competition. Whilst Duncan lived in the working class part of Muskoka. All the houses looked the same and everyone knew each other, good friend with the neighbours was a term used often enough. The holidays were a time for celebration and a need to be together, not material possessions. It was something Courtney wasn't used to. But she liked it.

"Meatloaf in the over, fruitcake in the fridge." Mrs. Evans called to the two of them as she came racing down the staircase in her uniform. She was in a hurry to get to work, like Courtney had witnessed plenty of times before. It still made her smile when she hugged Duncan on her way out the door. He made a fuss over it, but Courtney loved it. Her parents would never stop to do something like that for her. But she needed to stop thinking of her parents because form that moment on, she was being accepted into the Evans family for Christmas.

**_Off to grandmas, it's so boring_**  
><strong><em>Screaming kids and grandpa's snoring<em>**

The car ride hadn't been as boring as Duncan had remembered it. Though, this time around, he did have Courtney to keep him company. His mother had driven whilst he and Courtney huddled in the back seats. Duncan was quite glad that he managed to coax his mother into getting his father to drive his own car and stuff his brother and sister in there with his other brother driving up himself with his wife.

The three of them talked the whole way from Muskoka to Toronto, out to the woods where his grandparents' house stood. Sure, Courtney had been to many luxurious places such as Hawaii and Egypt. But when it came to Canada, Courtney had never been out of Muskoka. It was a whole new experience for her to travel such a long journey in a car as the airport wasn't that far from her house. She liked it, though. She liked it because she got to spend five hours with Duncan and his mother, talking about anything that came to mind. Childish games such as eye spy were played and all they did was laugh. Courtney had never been subject to that in her own family. The car rides were short and silent. No words muttered between them at all.

The house was not what Courtney had been expecting. It was more like an overgrown log cabin with snow covering most of it. The chimney was brimming with smoke and the wood looked like it had only just been chopped from a tree. There were children running around at every possible opening and they all started screaming and jumping around as they spotted the car.

"This is gonna be fun..." The sarcastic tone in the punk's voice had a certain edge to it, which made Courtney question whether he had meant it to be sarcastic or not. She gave his hand a quick squeeze at the two piled out of the car. None of the children talked to Courtney at first, all standing back, whispering about her. Duncan told her to ignore them, but it was hard to ignore the small sets of eyes that watched her every move.

Inside, the house looked even cosier as everyone was gathered around the fireplace or picking at the food in the kitchen. All eyes once again flooded to Courtney as she knew no one in the room. But Mrs. Evans was nice enough to introduce her and soon enough everyone introduced themselves. They were all Duncan's aunts, uncles and cousins, but there were a lot of them. Courtney had no idea how she was going to remember them all.

"And I want a new Barbie doll and I want Barbie's dream house and I want Barbie's pink car and I want Barbie's pool house and I want Barbie's airplane and I want Barbie's doctor stuff." I watched as a little girl, almost the spitting image of Duncan's sister, Carly, sitting on, who I presumed to be, her grandfather's lap. Her list was ever going and he was fallen asleep long ago, snoring the noise away, but the little girl didn't seem to notice one bit.

"Come on." Duncan whispered, "Let's take our bags up to our rooms."

_**My aunt Margaret's lost her mind  
>She's trippin' on a train set, have another box of wine<strong>_

Duncan had asked for him and Courtney to share a room, but his request had been denied. Eighteen or not, no ring was on the finger for his grandmother to approve of it. So Courtney was sharing with Carly and a few older cousins of Duncan's whilst Duncan shared with his brothers. It was going to be torture for him, but Courtney loved it. If it meant that they could still be together throughout the days that they were staying there for, then she was happy about it.

On their way out of Courtney's bedroom and down the hallway to Duncan's, they managed to bump into another family member. She fell straight over the train set headfirst into the wall opposite. Courtney wanted to rush to help her, but Duncan held his girlfriend back. The woman stumbled backwards, unaware that she slammed her face into a concrete wall.

"D-Duncan..." She mumbled incoherently in their direction. "How-How-Howyou'vegrown!" She patted his mohawk, almost amazed as it sprung back up after she flattened it down. She did it a few more times, giggling with glee like one of the children before Duncan finally took hold of her wrist and directed her towards the staircase, telling her about the box of wine that had just been opened downstairs. The word seemed to strike a nerve in her mind, making her face twitch at first. But it didn't stop her from giddily stumbling down the stairs and towards the kitchen.

Embarrassed about his Aunt, Duncan silently carted his bags towards his bedroom. Courtney smiled, following after him to cheer him up a bit.

**_Uncle Richard he's a weirdo_**  
><strong><em>Passing out pictures of himself in a Speedo<em>**

After Aunt Margaret was long passed out on the sofa, someone having drawn a moustache in a neon blue highlighter on her upper lip, Courtney and Duncan returned downstairs just in time to see the last of his family arriving through the doors. Everyone was hugging and kissing cheeks, exchanging stories of how treacherous the roads were from wherever they had travelled from. Courtney had never known how many family member Duncan had, let alone how spread out across Canada they were. But it was nice to see that they had all made the special effort to be home with their family for Christmas.

"Look here!" Everyone's attention was turned towards an older man who was searching through a long forgotten family album. He pulled a certain picture form its protective pocket and started passing it around the room to various family members. Courtney avoided contact with it, but Duncan quickly hurried it along the que of people wanting to see what the fuss was about. "That's me when I was your age, boy." He told Duncan. Courtney couldn't help but stifle a giggle. "Yeah, laugh all you want missy, but I was better looking in that speedo than your boyfriend there will ever be."

Duncan couldn't apologize enough to Courtney to make up for his embarrassing relatives, but the brunette teenager was having too much fun either way.

"He's a weirdo..." Duncan whispered once the laughter had died down around the whole room, "Just ignore him like the rest of us do."

_**My cousin Ashley, her singing really sucks  
>Blames it on her drummer and acid reflux<strong>_

By the time Christmas Eve rolled around, Duncan was far too groggy to care. His family had driven him to a point of no return; the only thing stopping him from going suicidal-or homicidal-was Courtney's sweet words to keep his mind clear and focusing on her. Duncan didn't regret letting his girlfriend become part of his family for the holiday season because he always liked to have someone to keep him stable.

Courtney was glad to be of his assistance. As the two sat at the breakfast bar, another round of jingle bells escaping cousin Ashley's mouth, Courtney tried to keep the conversation between them going. They talk about school, about work, about life. But Duncan soon has enough and it take him all he has to simply say, "Ash, shut up!" Instead of what he really wanted to tell her instead.

"Yeah, Dunc's got a fair point, Ashley." Joardan, yet another cousin of Duncan's, pipes up. "You can't sing, shut the fuck up." Courtney doesn't meet anyone's eyes, not wanting to have to take sides as Ashley had been nothing but nice to Courtney as the two shared bunk beds upstairs.

"I just have an acid reflux, that's all!" The blonde teenager called, stomping her feet up the staircase. Everyone who heard started laughing, thinking of the dumb blonde.

Duncan slipped his hand into Courtney's, lacing their fingers to be in perfect harmony. He loved the way they fitted perfectly together, like a puzzle with the last piece in place. It made him feel good to know that he didn't have to suffer his family alone for once.

**_My brother's wife is really hot_**  
><strong><em>She pulled me in the bathroom; I hope we don't get caught<em>**

The whole family was in a daze on Christmas morning. All of the children had gotten up early, but most had stayed up drinking till God knows what hours. But Courtney was still tucked up in bed when Duncan woke up. He planned on going to cuddle up with her for a while, but he needed to take a stop to the bathroom first. Only, he soon found out it was occupied. He had no idea who was in there, but he thumped his fist heavily on the wooden door, almost splintering it.

"Yeah?" His brother's voice called back, sounding half dead in his wake.

"Dude, get the fuck outta the bathroom..." Duncan mumbled, his own eyes drooping down his face. The door swung open and out stepped Damion, closely followed by Andrea. Duncan wasn't in the mood to issue a snappy comment about getting caught, so he simply slammed the door in their faces instead. Andrea was Duncan's sister-in-law, but she wasn't the wife of the brother that had just come from the bathroom.

**_We haven't even opened our presents yet but now it's time to start_**  
><strong><em>So I'll fake a smile 'cause its going back to Wal-Mart<em>**

Almost falling back to sleep in each other's arms, Duncan and Courtney were rudely interrupted by Carly calling them downstairs for present opening. They both moaned at the same time, wanting to stay tucked under the covers together for longer, but Christmas traditions stated that they opened presents at one PM as the children were about to start gnawing through the wrapping if they didn't find out what they had soon.

Fake smiles were exchanged as gifts passes hands. Duncan didn't really care for the after shave or deodorant, the chocolates or even the money. Christmas was a waste to him on him as the only thing he wanted was something he already had; Courtney to spend the day with. And Courtney wasn't very disappointed when the only Christmas gift she received was twenty dollars from Duncan's parents as barely any of Duncan's relatives had known she was staying for Christmas. She felt the same way that Duncan did, though.

**_It's gonna be a merry merry merry frickin' Christmas_**  
><strong><em>I must be on Santa clauses shitlist<em>**  
><strong><em>The tree, the gifts, the mistletoe kiss<em>**  
><strong><em>Shoot me now I'm sick of all my relatives<em>**  
><strong><em>Have a merry merry merry frickin' Christmas<em>**

The delinquent had no idea what to do with himself on Christmas day. He found that Courtney was having fun helping in the kitchen and the two needed a bit of time to themselves rather than being at each other's side constantly, but he seemed almost lost without her. He had no idea how he had coped so many years without her. He must have been on Santa's shitlist for the years past and even slightly still on it for this year as Courtney was now distant in the other room.

The tree was still in the corner, burning brightly with the explosion of colour. The gifts were thrown aimlessly around the floor, everyone needing to watch their footing as they didn't want to step on anything. The mistletoe hung above the ceiling on the bottom stop of the staircase, having been trapped under their by his drunken Aunt Margaret was not what he had been hoping for. Duncan was sick of all his relatives by the end of it.

Courtney came racing over, sitting promptly on her boyfriend lap and kissing his cheek softly. Even she knew she couldn't be away from him for too long. It was as painful for her as it was for him. She whispered softly in his ear, "Best Christmas ever..."

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><p>AN: Sappy ending...Bleh...

This was requested by I'mSOhighIcanHEARheaven.

Merry Frickin' Christmas by Frickin' A. This song makes me smile sooo much!

So it's 3:50 and I am TIRED! Okay...its 3:50 PM not AM...BUT I'M STILL TIRED! I've been writing this for AGES now! Like, two hours? Bleh...It's killing me! Well, has killed me...Don't get me wrong! I LOVE Christmas...But too much of it is brain cell murdering!

First of my four Christmas oneshots this year :D YAY! I was gonna post them all on Christmas morning, but I just REALLY needed to post something before people start to think I'm dead again...No, seriously...Last time I disappeared people thought I was dead...I'm not! I promise you I'll have someone notify you of my death if it ever rolls around...

My cupboards and fridge are bare! All I have is soup, cheese, milk and bread! WHAT THE HELL CAN I DO WITH THAT? Parents are gonna do the Christmas shop tonight...YAY! I'm not going, though...I'm gonna stay home and finally finish reading Mockingjay! We're now at the point where Peeta has just shown up in the Capitol for the fighting thing! I LOVE THIS BOOK!

"She got very squeaky. It was like someone stabbing a mouse with a fork repeatedly." Why does this line appeal to me so much? :D hahaha! xD

ONLY 91 DAYS UNTIL THE HUNGER GAMES COMES OUT! ONLY 96 DAYS UNTIL I GET TO SEE IT! YAY!

I've actually been punishing myself...I said that I needed to write something, so I wasn't allowed to go on Fanfiction, devinatART or read Mockingjay until I wrote this...YES! I CAN GO BACK TO MY BOOK NOW!

hahaha! I just moved my laptop as I was sitting up on my bed and I squished my cat under it...She's fine! Just shot me a 'DEAD!' look and went back to sleep...hahaha!

It's raining now...

MERRY CHRISTMAS! Only three days left now :)

Thanks for reading, please review :)

Spellchecked with a UK dictionary setting….Because I was too lazy to switch to US…

Love, ChloeRhiannonX


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